Prince Andrew groped young woman at flat belonging to billionaire paedophile, court documents allege

Authored by independent.co.uk and submitted by vitaminberry1

Prince Andrew was accused of groping a young woman’s breast at the home of wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein, according to newly released legal documents.

The allegation surfaced in a cache of legal papers unsealed by a US judge in a defamation case involving Ghislaine Maxwell - a British socialite alleged to have supplied Epstein and his well-off social circle with underage girls.

Epstein is a billionaire paedophile who is facing child sex trafficking charges involving dozens of girls.

We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. From 15p €0.18 $0.18 USD 0.27 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras.

Virginia Giuffre, an alleged victim of Epstein who also claimed she was forced into a sexual encounter with Prince Andrew, sued Ms Maxwell in 2015.

In the legal documents, released on Friday, Johanna Sjoberg, another alleged Epstein victim, said Prince Andrew touched her breast while sitting on a couch inside Epstein's Manhattan flat in 2001.

Buckingham Palace has insisted the allegations about the Duke of York are “categorically untrue”.

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EPA 3/50 7 August 2019 Kazakh servicemen perform during a ceremony opening the International Army Games at the 40th military base Otar in Zhambyl Region, Kazakhstan. Reuters 4/50 6 August 2019 Paleontologist Naturalis Anne Schulp takes part in the construction of the skeleton of the Tyrannosaurus Rex called Trix in Naturalis in Leiden, The Netherlands. After a month-long tour of Europe, Trix is home in time for the opening of the new museum. AFP/Getty 5/50 5 August 2019 Flowers paying tribute to the eight-year-old boy who died after he was pushed under a train at Frankfurt am Main's station. The horrific crime happened last week and has led politicians to call for heightened security. AFP/Getty 6/50 4 August 2019 Mourners take part in a vigil near the border fence between Mexico and the US after a mass shooting at a Walmart store in El Paso killed 20 people. The suspected gunman behind shooting is believed to be a 21-year-old white man called Patrick Crusius. Reuters 7/50 3 August 2019 Pramac Racing's rider Jack Miller in action during a practice session at the Motorcycling Grand Prix of the Czech Republic. The race will take place on 4 August EPA 8/50 2 August 2019 An extremely rare Pink Meanie jellyfish on display at the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town. The Pink Meanie was discovered during a nightlight jellyfish dive by the collections team in the waters around Robben Island and in Cape Town Harbour. Pink Meanies are jellyvorous, meaning they feed on other jelly species by reeling them in with their long tentacles. Discovering the Pink Meanie in its early ephyra stage meant the team could study its growth rate which turned out to be very quick as it grew to the metaephyra stage in about a week and a half. The Mexican pink meanie (Drymonema larsoni) was only discovered in the year 2000. A Mediterranean relative, known as the Big Pink Jellyfish (Drymonema dalmatinum) has been known to science since the 1800s but when spotted in 2014 it had been almost 70 years since the last sighting. These jellies are incredibly rare and this new South African species is no exception EPA 9/50 1 August 2019 Palestinian men breathe fire on the beach as entertainment for children during the summer vacation in Gaza City AFP/Getty 10/50 31 July 2019 A woman rows a boat through the lotus plants on the waters of Dal Lake in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir. The lake is a popular tourist destination because of its floating gardens and lotus flowers EPA 11/50 30 July 2019 An effigy of demon Ghantakarna is burnt to symbolize the destruction of evil and belief to drive evil spirits and ghost, during the Ghantakarna festival at the ancient city of Bhaktapur, Nepal Reuters 12/50 29 July 2019 Hundreds of hot air balloons take part in the Great Line at the Mondial Air Ballons festival, in an attempt to break the 2017 record of 456 balloons aligning in an hour during the biggest meeting in the world, in Chambley, France Reuters 13/50 28 July 2019 Anti-extradition bill protesters with umbrellas attend a rally against the police brutality in Hong Kong EPA 14/50 27 July 2019 A general view of stalls closed following yesterday's volcanic eruption at the tourism area of Mount Tangkuban Parahu in the north of Bandung, West Java province, Indonesia. Reuters 15/50 26 July 2019 Protesters rally against a controversial extradition bill in the arrivals hall at the international airport in Hong Kong AFP/Getty 16/50 25 July 2019 The pack rides in a valley during the eighteenth stage of the 106th edition of the Tour de France cycling race between Embrun and Valloire AFP/Getty 17/50 24 July 2019 Former special counsel Robert Mueller is sworn in to testify before a House Judiciary Committee hearing on the investigation into Russian Interference of the 2016 Presidential Election Reuters 18/50 23 July 2019 People cool down at the fountains of Trocadero during a heatwave in Paris EPA 19/50 22 July 2019 Activists burn an effigy of President Rodrigo Duterte, depicted as a sea monster, during a protest near congress. This is to coincide with his state of the nation address in Manila AFP/Getty 20/50 21 July 2019 Protesters run from tear gas, fired by police, after a march against a controversial extradition bill in Hong Kong. The masked protesters covered the walls of China's office in Hong Kong with eggs and graffiti following another massive rally AFP/Getty 21/50 20 July 2019 Fans line the streets of Algiers to see the national Algerian football team take part in an open-top bus parade following their victory in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. They were celebrating their second Cup of Nations win, 29 years after their first triumph in 1990 AFP/Getty 22/50 19 July 2019 The 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission is celebrated in a 17-minute show, "Apollo 50: Go for the Moon" which combined full-motion projection-mapping artwork on the Washington Monument and archival footage to recreate the launch of Apollo 11 Nasa/AP 23/50 18 July 2019 A pupil from Northlen Primary school sticks a poster of former president Nelson Mandela on a chalkboard, as they mark his birthday in Durban. July 18, marks 101 years since the birth of Mandela in 1918 AFP/Getty 24/50 17 July 2019 Firefighters rush to the scene to put out a fire that spread to parked cars in Jerusalem, following an extreme heat wave AFP/Getty Images 25/50 16 July 2019 Rescuers work at the site of collapsed building in Dongri area of Mumbai, India EPA 26/50 15 July 2019 A motorist drives past a destroyed house after a large earthquake that hit Surigao City, in the southern island of Mindanao, Philippines AFP/Getty Images 27/50 14 July 2019 French Gendarmes remove fences next to a burning portable toilet during clashes with protesters on the Champs Elysees avenue after the traditional Bastille Day military parade in Paris, France Reuters 28/50 13 July 2019 A recortador jumps over a bull during a contest in a bullring at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, Spain Reuters 29/50 12 July 2019 Japan's Megumu Yoshida and Yukiko Inui compete in the duet technical artistic swimming event during the 2019 World Championships at Yeomju Gymnasium in Gwangju AFP/Getty 30/50 11 July 2019 Hot air balloons fly over the city of Igualada during an early flight as part of the European Balloon Festival in Igualada, Spain. The European Balloon Festival has become the most important hot air balloon event in Spain and one of the biggest in Europe Getty 31/50 10 July 2019 USA's players take part in their champions parade through New York after winning the Women's World Cup at the weekend in France Reuters 32/50 9 July 2019 The pack rides during the fourth stage of the Tour de France cycling race in Nancy, France AP 33/50 8 July 2019 Temple Priest Siva Sri Arumugam Paskarakurukkal and Hindu devotees celebrate the Makorcavam temple festival at Germany's largest Hindu temple in Hamm, Germany EPA 34/50 7 July 2019 Megan Rapinoe lifts the Women's World Cup following USA's victory over The Netherlands at Stade de Lyon in the final held in France Getty 35/50 6 July 2019 Manneken Pis is dressed in the overall leader's yellow jersey, before the start of the Tour de France Stage 1 Reuters 36/50 5 July 2019 Sudanese protesters celebrate in the streets of Khartoum after ruling generals and protest leaders announced they have reached an agreement on the disputed issue of a new governing body AFP/Getty Images 37/50 4 July 2019 Demonstrators burn a national flag in front of the White House during a Fourth of July protest Reuters 38/50 3 July 2019 Smoke billows and flames propagate across the hillside near houses after the Stromboli volcano erupted in the north of Sicily. It killed a hiker and sent tourists fleeing into the sea AFP/Getty 39/50 2 July 2019 An orangutan looks out of its cage in the controversial Pata Zoo in Thailand. Located at the top of a department store, the zoo has been controversial for keeping animals in tiny, concrete cages EPA 40/50 1 July 2019 A protester breaks in to the Legislative Council building in Hong Kong during a protest on the 22nd anniversary of the territory's handover to China from Britain Reuters 41/50 30 June 2019 Riot police use rubber pellets to disperse LGBT rights activists as they try to gather for a pride parade, which was banned by the governorship, in central Istanbul, Turkey Reuters 42/50 29 June 2019 A member of the LGBTQ community participates in the Metro Manila Pride parade in Marikina City, Philippines Reuters 43/50 28 June 2019 Explosive charges blow up the remaining sections of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa, Italy after it partially collapsed last year killing 43 and injuring dozens AFP/Getty 44/50 27 June 2019 A forest fire flare up in Ziltendorf near Frankfurt, Germany as mainland Europe suffers an intense heatwave AFP/Getty 45/50 26 June 2019 One of the world's most hazardous volcanoes, Mount Ulawun in Papua New Guinea, erupts spewing lava and ash high into the air AFP/Getty 46/50 25 June 2019 A Russian Soyuz MS-11 space capsule carrying astronauts returning from the International Space Station lands in the steppes of south-east Kazakhstan AP 47/50 24 June 2019 An aerial view shows a crater on a barley field near Ahlbach. Experts assume that an air bomb of the WWII probably exploded at a depth of several metres as a result of the triggering of the chemical detonator. AFP/Getty 48/50 23 June 2019 People gather for a protest in Prague, Czech Republic. Protesters are on calling on Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis to step down over fraud allegations and subsidies paid to his former companies AP 49/50 22 June 2019 Policemen push back anti-coal activists after they entered the open-cast mine Garzweiler, western Germany. The activists tried to reach and occupy the massive open-cast lignite mine in a protest to demand action against global warming, now one of the hottest issues on the European political agenda AFP/Getty 50/50 21 June 2019 The silhouette of a girl performing yoga on the rocky crest of the Ancient Observatory Kokino on the occasion of fifth International Yoga Day, which is also the day of the summer solstice. The ancient astronomic observatory, located about 100 km northeast of Skopje, dates more than 4.000 years back in time. It is ranked by Nasa as the fourth ancient observatory in the world AFP/Getty

A spokesperson said: “This relates to proceedings in the United States, to which The Duke Of York is not a party. Any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue.”

Prince Andrew, who is the third child of the Queen and Prince Phillip, is known to have gone on holidays with Epstein up until around 2010.

In the legal papers, Ms Sjoberg said: “I just remember someone suggesting a photo, and they told us to go get on the couch. And so Andrew and Virginia sat on the couch, and they put the puppet, the puppet on her lap.

“And so then I sat on Andrew’s lap, and I believe on my own volition, and they took the puppet’s hands and put it on Virginia’s breast, and so Andrew put his on mine.”

The legal documents claim Ms Sjoberg was a “young college student” who was contacted by “perfect stranger” Ms Maxwell, who “lured” her to Epstein’s home with the promise of a “legitimate job”.

Ms Giuffre’s lawyers said: “Ms Sjoberg’s testimony also corroborates Ms Giuffre’s account of being lent out to Prince Andrew by (Ms Maxwell).”

Ms Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend, has denied the allegations.

Epstein’s extensive network of high-profile people in the upper echelons of society reached around the world – he hosted Bill Clinton at a private Caribbean island called Little St James, and flew Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker to Africa as part of a humanitarian project. He was an associate of Donald Trump and previously a regular at the US president’s Mar-a-Lago club.

Epstein, 66, is already a registered sex offender after being found guilty of soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008. He spent 18 months in prison.

He is facing fresh charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy and could stand trial next year.

The new charges laid against Epstein concern trafficking allegations involving dozens of minors from 2002 to 2005 allegedly carried out in Florida and New York. Epstein’s lawyers say they should be wiped as the new legal action backtracks on a plea agreement which saw him admit his 2008 charge in return for immunity from future allegations.

avondalian on August 10th, 2019 at 14:52 UTC »

Downgraded to just groping now?

Blurry_Bigfoot on August 10th, 2019 at 14:31 UTC »

Jesus. Can’t these ultra wealthy people just do a bunch of coke and hang around with (legal age) models? Why is that so hard?

alackofcol0r on August 10th, 2019 at 14:20 UTC »

Well conveniently Epstein "suicided" this morning